Saint Thomas Becket
archbishop of Canterbury
also called Thomas À Becket, or Thomas Of London
born c. 1118, Cheapside, London
died December 29, 1170, Canterbury, Kent, England; canonized 1173; feast
day December 29
Main
chancellor of England (1155–62) and archbishop of Canterbury (1162–70)
during the reign of King Henry II. His career was marked by a long
quarrel with Henry that ended with Becket’s murder in Canterbury
cathedral.
Early life and career.
Thomas was born to Norman parents of the merchant class. He was educated
first at Merton priory, then in a City of London school, and finally at
Paris. Deeply influenced in childhood by a devout mother who died when
he was 21, Thomas entered adult life as a city clerk and accountant in
the service of the sheriffs. After three years he was introduced by his
father to Archbishop Theobald, a former abbot of Bec, of whose household
he became a member. His colleagues were a distinguished company that
included the political philosopher John of Salisbury, the Roman lawyer
Vacarius, and several future bishops, including Roger of Pont l’Évêque,
later archbishop of York. Thomas won Theobald’s confidence, acted as his
agent, and was sent by him to study civil and canon law at Bologna and
Auxerre.
His contemporaries described Thomas as a tall and spare figure with
dark hair and a pale face that flushed in excitement. His memory was
extraordinarily tenacious and, though neither a scholar nor a stylist,
he excelled in argument and repartee. He made himself agreeable to all
around him, and his biographers attest that he led a chaste life—in this
respect uninfluenced by the King.
As chancellor.
In 1154 Theobald, as a reward of his services, appointed Thomas
archdeacon of Canterbury, an important and lucrative post, and less than
three months later recommended him to Henry as chancellor. Here Thomas
showed to the full his brilliant abilities, razing castles, repairing
the Tower of London, conducting embassies, and raising and leading
troops in war. Trusted completely by the King, Thomas was compared by a
biographer to Joseph under Pharaoh. To Henry himself Thomas was a
welcome companion and intimate friend, both at court and in the chase,
aiding the King in his policy of gathering all power into the hands of
the monarchy, even when that policy went against claims of the church.
Thomas, older than Henry by 15 years and celibate, may well have felt,
at least initially, a quasi-paternal or elder-brother affection, mingled
with admiration for Henry’s talents and charm. He must also have enjoyed
the satisfaction of moving in a rank of society to which he had not been
born. Henry’s attitude is less easy to identify, but the efficiency and
intelligence of Thomas must have recommended him to a king surrounded by
uneducated and at times truculent barons.
Whether Becket was fully satisfied with his life as chancellor is
another matter. Throughout his life Thomas gave with prodigality and
acted with panache. The description of the procession of men, beasts,
and carriages laden with objects of luxury that accompanied him as envoy
to Paris in 1158 is one of the highlights of William FitzStephen’s Life
of Thomas Becket. This, and his customary splendour of clothing and
furnishings, suited ill with his status as archdeacon. More serious in
the eyes of contemporaries was his refusal to surrender his archdeaconry
while neglecting its duties, and his extraction of scutage (payment in
lieu of military service) at a high rate from ecclesiastical fiefs. Most
serious to modern minds is his failure to visit the disapproving and
dying Theobald when summoned. In general, there can be no doubt that in
public affairs he was the King’s man, even when Henry endeavoured to
reassert what he claimed to be his ancestral rights.
Meanwhile, the great movement known as the Gregorian reform had
spread from Italy to France and the Holy Roman Empire and had begun to
influence English churchmen. In its program, free elections to clerical
posts, inviolability of church property, freedom of appeal to Rome, and
clerical immunity from lay tribunals were leading points. Under Henry I
and Stephen, the archbishops had stood out for these reforms, sometimes
with partial success. Henry II, however, undoubtedly aimed at a complete
return to the practice of Henry I, who had strict control over the
church. He had begun to press his claims, and his chancellor had aided
him. With the death of Theobald in 1161, Henry hoped to appoint Thomas
as archbishop and thus complete his program.
As archbishop.
For almost a year after the death of Theobald the see of Canterbury was
vacant. Thomas was aware of the King’s intention and tried to dissuade
him by warnings of what would happen. Henry persisted and Thomas was
elected. Once consecrated, Thomas changed both his outlook and his way
of life. He became devout and austere and embraced the integral program
of the papacy and its canon law. This spectacular change has baffled
historians, and several explanations have been attempted: that Thomas
was intoxicated by his ambition to dominate or that he threw himself, as
before, into a part he had agreed to play. It is simpler to suppose that
he accepted at last the spiritual obligations he had ignored as
chancellor and turned into a new channel his mingled energy, force of
character, impetuosity, and ostentation. Greatly to Henry’s displeasure,
he immediately resigned the chancellorship but clung to the archdeaconry
until forced by the King to resign. Henry had been in Normandy since
August 1158, and on his return in January 1163 Thomas began the struggle
by opposing a tax proposal and excommunicating a leading baron. More
serious was his attitude in the matter of “criminous clerks.” In western
Europe, accused clerics for long had enjoyed the privilege of standing
trial before the bishop rather than secular courts and usually received
milder punishments than lay courts would assess. In England before the
Conquest this was still the custom. If found guilty in an ecclesiastical
court, clerics could be degraded or exiled but were not liable to death
or mutilation. For 60 years after the Norman Conquest little is heard of
clerical crime or its punishment, while on the Continent, Gregorian
reformers were tending to emphasize the sole right of the church to try
and punish clerks in major orders. The position of Thomas, that a guilty
clerk could be degraded and punished by the bishop but should not be
punished again by lay authority—“not twice for the same fault”—was
canonically arguable and ultimately prevailed. Henry’s contention that
clerical crime was rife and that it was encouraged by the absence of
drastic penalties commends itself to modern readers as a fair one. But
it must be remembered that the King’s motives were authoritarian and
administrative rather than enlightened. Nevertheless, it may be thought
that Thomas was ill-advised in his rigid stand on this point. The issue
was joined in a council at Westminster (October 1163), but the crisis
came at Clarendon (Wiltshire, January 1164), when the King demanded a
global assent to all traditional royal rights, reduced to writing under
16 heads and known as the Constitutions of Clarendon. These asserted the
King’s right to punish criminous clerks, forbade excommunication of
royal officials and appeals to Rome, and gave the King the revenues of
vacant sees and the power to influence episcopal elections. Henry was
justified in saying that these rights had been exercised by Henry I, but
Thomas also was justified in maintaining that they contravened church
law. Thomas, after verbally accepting the constitutions, revoked his
assent and appealed to the Pope, then in France, who supported him while
deprecating precipitate action.
Quarrel with Henry.
Good relations between Thomas and Henry were now at an end; the
Archbishop was summoned to trial by the King on a point of feudal
obligation. At the Council of Northampton (Oct. 6–13, 1164), it was
clear that Henry intended to ruin and imprison or to force the
resignation of the Archbishop. In this he was encouraged by some of the
bishops, among them Gilbert Foliot, bishop of London. Thomas fled in
disguise and took refuge with Louis VII of France. Pope Alexander III
received him with honour but hesitated to act decisively in his favour
in fear that he might throw Henry into the arms of the Holy Roman
emperor Frederick I and his antipope, Paschal III.
Thomas’ exile lasted for six years (Nov. 2, 1164–Dec. 2, 1170). He
was joined by many of his distinguished household and lived ascetically,
first at Pontigny Abbey and then, when Henry threatened the monks, at an
abbey near Sens. Henry meanwhile had seized the properties of the
Archbishop and his supporters and had exiled all Thomas’ close
relatives. In the following years several abortive attempts were made at
reconciliation, but new acts of hostility by the King and declarations
of excommunication hurled by Thomas at his opponents embittered the
struggles.
The bishops were divided, but a majority of them, led by Foliot, were
either hostile to Thomas or hesitant in supporting him. Papal legates
more than once endeavoured to mediate, and the King and the Archbishop
came together at Montmirail in 1169, only to part in anger. Thomas
distrusted the King and was, in turn, hated by him. In the same year,
Henry put out additions to the Constitutions of Clarendon, virtually
withdrawing England from papal obedience. Finally, in 1170, he had his
eldest son crowned as co-king by the archbishop of York, Becket’s old
rival.
This was a flagrant breach of papal prohibition and of the immemorial
right of Canterbury to crown the king. Thomas, followed by the Pope,
excommunicated all responsible. Henry, fearing an interdict for England,
met Thomas at Fréteval (July 22), and it was agreed that Thomas should
return to Canterbury and receive back all the possessions of his see.
Neither party withdrew from his position regarding the Constitutions of
Clarendon, which on this occasion were not mentioned. This “open-ended”
concordat has remained an inexplicable event. Thomas returned to
Canterbury (December 2) and was received with enthusiasm, but further
excommunications of the hostile royal servants, refusal to lift the
excommunication of Roger of York and Foliot, as well as his ready
acceptance of tumultuous acclaim by the crowds infuriated Henry in
Normandy.
Martyrdom.
Some violent words of Henry were taken literally by four leading knights
of the court, who proceeded swiftly to Canterbury (December 29), forced
themselves into the Archbishop’s presence, and, on his refusal to
absolve the bishops, followed him into the cathedral. There, at
twilight, after further altercation, they cut him down with their
swords. His last words were an acceptance of death in defense of the
church of Christ.
Within a few days after Thomas’ death, his tomb became a goal of
pilgrimage, and he was canonized by Alexander III in 1173. In 1174 Henry
did penance at Canterbury and was absolved. For almost four centuries,
Becket’s shrine was one of the most famous in Europe. Thomas was
portrayed in illuminations and sculpture, and churches were dedicated to
him throughout western Christendom.
Judgment on the character and actions of St. Thomas has been varied.
From his martyrdom until the reign of Henry VIII, he was the “blisful
martir” of Chaucer’s pilgrims, who had heroically defied a tyrant. Henry
VIII despoiled his shrine, burned his bones, and erased his name from
all service books. Thenceforth Thomas was a hero to Catholics and a
traitor to Protestants.
Many recent historians, impressed by the legal and administrative
reforms of Henry II, have seen Thomas as an ambitious and fanatical
nuisance. Certainly there is room for debate, for both Thomas and his
king were remarkable men with complex characters. If Henry had moral
failings and made private and political miscalculations, Thomas can
rightly be accused, at various moments of his life, of worldly
behaviour, ostentation, impetuosity, weakness, and violent language. If
Henry was ill-advised in committing his claims to writing at Clarendon
and in crowning his son, Thomas was equally ill-advised in needlessly
opposing the King in 1163 and in wavering between compliance and
intransigence when careful diplomacy might have won out. But his courage
and sincerity cannot be doubted, and in the quarrel between church and
state he gave his life for what he took to be a vital issue.
The Rev. Michael David Knowles, O.S.B.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
